In May, Gwinnett lost his campaign for governor to John Adam Treutlen, after holding the state’s top office exactly two months. Almost immediately, Brigadier General McIntosh filed a charge with the general assembly that Gwinnett had been disloyal, had refused to accept legal orders, and therefore had caused the expedition to fail. As expected, Gwinnett denied all the charges and claimed that McIntosh was to blame. After a hot debate, a bare majority of the divided parliament voted that Gwinnett had not acted improperly in the campaign. When he heard of this decision, McIntosh called his adversary “a scoundrel and lying rascal.” As was expected, Gwinnett’s seconds delivered the inevitable challenge that evening.

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It was still dark the next morning when Brigadier General McIntosh and his second, Colonel Joseph Habersham, arrived in a meadow near Savannah, on a plantation formerly owned by Governor James Wright. There was an early fog, but it was thin enough for the assembled men to see their carriage at a distance of at least thirty yards. Habersham moved around restlessly, but McIntosh seemed perfectly at ease as they listened to the first twittering of songbirds and watched the sky begin to brighten in the east. A quarter hour later, former president Gwinnett and his political ally George Wells arrived. As an apothecary who practiced medicine, Wells could play a double role in also caring for either combatant who might be wounded. The seconds consulted with the two duelists and then met with each other.

Dr. Wells said, “President Gwinnett has decided to let the general name the distance.”

When Habersham walked away and presented the question to McIntosh, his response was, “I propose three paces.”

Both seconds protested strongly that this would leave little chance for survival, so after some discussion they settled on four paces, still a deadly range for two skilled marksmen.

Gwinnett immediately accepted this proposal, and after checking their pistols, the two principals approached each other without speaking, turned, and waited until the signal was given. They took the prescribed steps, turned, and fired. Both were wounded, with bullets in McIntosh’s thigh and near Gwinnett’s groin. Gwinnett was on the ground, but McIntosh did not fall. The general looked down at his despised adversary and coldly asked, “Another shot?”

Gwinnett, whose right hip appeared to be fractured, replied, “Yes, if someone will help me stand erect.”